Excerpts from New Peninsula Uganda Partnership Prayer Newsletter

MAY  2013

Please join us for the next Uganda Prayer Night, on the first Thursday of each month, from 8.00 – 9.00 pm at the home of Mick and Dorrie Terrington (phone 5977 2418).  If you would like to be part of our dynamic Uganda Partnership Group (UPG), please call Jamie on 5978 8021.

Grace & Pastor Vinnie

Andrew Mukhwana & family

Greetings all,

Graeme and Bette Pearson have recently visited Uganda, below is a brief account of their visit and also some photos.  Thank you for sharing this with us Graeme and Bette.

“We visited Bethel Church Mbale in late March, and met with Vinnie and Grace, Andrew and Sarah and their children.

We were impressed with the work at Bethel, including the ministry of Grace and Sarah with the ladies.

The new Bethel Church/ Community centre is larger than expected, and is an excellent building which is being used for community meetings, training, health, young single mums groups etc.  The old church building is used for kids activities on Saturdays, and another for food storage and distribution.

The Community Centre needs finishing off with ceiling fans, completion of baptistry, and office furniture.  The area for the health centre is empty.

We visited a number of the new churches, and Vinnie and the team are on schedule with their growth plans, with 6 already established.

Vinnie is building relationships with people by helping them to establish sustainable lifestyles, and then inviting them to church – holistic ministry.  We travelled with 2 leaders from the Samaritan’s Purse Uganda office, and when asked for suggestions for improving the Bethel ministry, they said ‘Vinnie is already implementing the right methods for building Christian communities’.”

Church

Baptistry

VINNIE’s PRAISE POINTS:

• Thank and praise God for the transformation Bethel is bringing into the community.  We have seen the community  being transformed in all aspects of life, not only are people getting saved, but people are using their God given resources from within and around them and are making changes in their lives.

• Praise God for Salvation.  A community that didn’t know God before is now on fire for God.  Not only are people getting saved in Bethel church and its new plants, but there are also new church plants not related to Bethel.  There has been a revival in the mountain area with many Witchdoctors who were deceiving people about life have fled away from the community because people now know the truth.  Some Witchdoctors have surrendered to Jesus Christ.

Community Centre

VINNIE’S PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Pray for the weather.  We seem to be having much more rain than needed.  As a result the crops are not doing well because of too much rain.  There are also threats for the land and mudslides in some areas in the Mountain.  Pray that God will intervene in the situation. 
2. Continue praying for the growing church in the community.  There are some churches like the Anglican, Pentecost and others which we think are good, but there are some others that we doubt.  We have seen the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons and some indigenous churches with the belief in Jesus as well as some sacrifices like animals and children.  They also don’t believe in taking children to school and they see the Number 666 in almost everything.  Pray that God will keep the harvest for only the good churches. 
3. Pray for Brian.  Brian is one of the converts who has been saved from the Islamic faith, he is now leading Bethany Church in the Mountains.  Recently he has found himself a good lady and they are intending to marry.  Pray that God will provide as he has no other family other than Bethel. 
4. Pray for Bethel.  We had a leadership meeting on Saturday where many things were discussed, with two of them being crucial.  We want to elect the new church council in August. Pray that this will go well.  We also think it is officially time to form a New Zone, meaning we will still be under the Baptist Union of Uganda as well as the Eastern Baptist Association.  We shall be doing things more independently from the First Baptist as we don’t share the same specific vision and on a few occasions we get diverted from what we think is the calling of Bethel. 
5. Pray for Grace and Vinnie and the leadership.  There is a lot of pressure in making sure the church keeps growing and they also have to run and look after their own families.  Pray for wisdom.

God’s blessing to all from Vinnie

Unknown

This prayer newsletter has been compiled by the Uganda Partnership Group as a way to keep the wider “Uganda Support Community” within New Peninsula Church engaged and updated on our mission partnership with Bethel Church in Mooni community, near Mbale, Uganda. Thanks to Lyn Carr for preparing it. Quotations from correspondence have been edited. Please feel free to distribute this prayer newsletter to others. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, or wish to be placed on the distribution list, please contact Jamie Edgerton on 5978 8021 or jedgertonoz@gmail.com.

Excerpts from New Peninsula Uganda Partnership Prayer Newsletter

April 2013

Please join us for the next Uganda Prayer Night, on the first Thursday of each month, from 8.00 – 9.00 pm at the home of Mick and Dorrie Terrington.

If you would like to be part of our dynamic Uganda Partnership Group (UPG), please call Jamie Edgerton.

DEBORAH and ANDREW’S WEDDING

Vinnie writes –“I want to thank you for all the support related to Andrew and Deborah’s wedding. It went very well. It was our first wedding in the Bigger Community and Health Centre building. 

 

NEWS – from Vinnie

My car finally gave up. The engine became very weak that it could not climb any hills any more. But the good news is, some one is willing to let me use his car for up hills until God opens a door for another better car. He will take mine and use it only in town. I only have to buy some tires and that is all to start with. I realized I can't do without the car any more especially for those distant churches in the hills.

I am not in Uganda at the moment. I got an invitation together with Aaron to attend a very great training on leadership development in the UK. It was organized by an NGO called Community Development in Africa and it was a bit abrupt and urgent. Right now we are in the UK. Grace has been invited to the UK on a different thing and she will be coming to the UK on the 8th of this Month.
 
We were so grateful for Graeme and Bette Pearson’s visit together with those Samaritan's purse folks.

The meetings went so well and everyone seemed happy with what they saw.
 

For Praise

 - We praise God for the new people being saved in Bethel and all the branches.

- We thank God that the Opposition towards the gospel has reduced. Even though there is still opposition it is not as it used to be.

- People have started to see the church as a positive influence in the community other than a threat to their faith as it was thought of in the past.
- I also thank God for the new leaders like Aaron, Andrew, Deborah, Brian, Luke, Robert and many others catching and owning the vision and doing the things that took my time. Now I have more free time to do other things as people have learnt to do things, and some of them do it better than Grace and I would.

- Again I want to say that the students we sponsored for education have done well in education. Every one of them is doing well both in school and in the homes they come from.

- Some of the people we helped like Florance, Makhaya Khagodo are running small businesses that are helping them to support their families. Khagodo has a skill of mending people's broken saucepans, plates, knives, cups and jericans. This has helped him support himself and his girl friend. He and Senga live together happily and they support each other.
 

For Prayers:

• Pray for the young leaders who plan to marry soon as that is one of the demands for church leadership. Pray that God will give them resources to do it in the right manner.
• Pray that Grace, Aaron and I shall do what has brought us to the UK.
• Continue praying that my house in Mooni shall be sold. We went for not a long time loan, and now the time is getting closer to when they will begin hiking the interest rates.
• Also continue praying for Grace. She still struggles with the pains in her joints and it gives her a hard time. And sometimes what is a little frustrating is that Grace and I have prayed for people and they have got healed; even people with the similar situation as that of Grace. We do wonder why healing isn't taking place on Grace herself. Anyway you pray for her please.

Vinnie

This prayer newsletter has been compiled by the Uganda Partnership Group as a way to keep the wider “Uganda Support Community” within New Peninsula Church engaged and updated on our mission partnership with Bethel Church in Mooni community, near Mbale, Uganda. Thanks to Lyn Carr for preparing it. Quotations from correspondence have been edited. Please feel free to distribute this prayer newsletter to others. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, or wish to be placed on the distribution list, please contact Jamie Edgerton on 5978 8021 or jedgertonoz@gmail.com.

Excerpts from New Peninsula Uganda Partnership Prayer Newsletter

March 2013

TRANSFORMATION:

Below is a story from Vinnie (slightly edited)

Esther was married many years ago. She had a wonderful wedding, nice husband and lived happily with her husband.  But when she gave birth to her two sons, they were both epileptic. With the stigma of having epileptic sons the husband left her.  Esther and her two sons lived a very poor life.  But in that kind of life, she found two more children who had been abandoned by their parents. So she had four in total.

Esther lived as an outcast in the community as people think epilepsy is a curse. She was lonely, isolated, rejected and felt she was a disgrace.

We met Esther over three years ago. She and her children were living in very poor conditions. The only place she had found to stay with her children was in a corridor where someone kept his rabbits and one little pig.

When we met Esther, we built her a house and we loved her and her children. She learnt business skills. She started making soap, smearing creams [Vaseline-based skin moisturizer] and other things of the sort from the locally available materials. Now she makes a good living and lives in a good house.

As a result of showing her love and making her feel she is not alone but with us, life changed. She chose to take a course in the Bible college, and there she met a very nice man who was interested in her. She finished her school, and married her new man.   Esther is a happy woman now, happily married and serving God.

With a humble touch we have seen lives change for better.  There are many other stories like this.

We thank you very much, as we can tell these stories because you have been standing with us.
 

PRAISE POINTS:

• The preparations for Deborah and Andrew’s wedding are going well.
• The revolving loan program is going well and many people have benefited and are also learning some good business management skills.
• The work on completing the Bethany Church building is almost finished.
• The children whom Bethel Church supports for education have done well with their studies.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Pray for the children who have finished school, that they will be accepted into the courses they desire
2. Members of the Victory Church in Busamaga have outgrown the building they have been renting and it is no longer available for them to rent.  Pray for God’s provision so a church can be built for them this year.
3. Continue to pray for Deborah and Andrew’s wedding, that it will be successful.
4. Pray for the leadership training which has started, that it will be a tool for people to grow and serve God.
5. Pray for our members who are persecuted over their new faith in Christ.  Persecution has become part of our Christian life here that we no longer talk about it, but men and women continue suffering silently.

Excerpts from New Peninsula Uganda Partnership Prayer Newsletter (February 2013)

The first Sunday of the Month at Bethel is a prayer and fasting day. After the church service members in leadership roles remain behind to have an extra time to pray and seek God, and to discuss the updates and prayer items to share with us. The most recent ones are listed below.
 
Vinnie wrote: “Thank you for the recent funding, we have been able to:

• give out a good number of goats to widows. We shall send you photos soon.
• boost our revolving loan scheme. Last week we had training for over 200 people.
• pay our sponsored children's school fees.
• buy the children's bible club store materials: this coming Saturday they will be doing their shopping.

“The Introduction (engagement function) of Andrew and Deborah last December went well” (see photo below). 

 

 
PRAISE POINTS FROM BETHEL LEADERS

1. The revolving loan scheme has reached many poor people and there are good testimonies in the communities. The poor and those in need who are usually neglected have been able to earn a respectable income, which has made them self-sufficient and sustainable.
2. The children we support for education have passed very well. We now have some children who are in college. We thank God and we thank you for giving us a hand in that area.
3. We have a good number of youths who are saved and very active in the churches as a result of our bible club children's programme. The church is growing because of that programme. Some children have even brought their parents to the Lord.
4. New converts especially in the new churches are increasing in number.

PRAYER REQUESTS FROM BETHEL LEADERS

1. Pray that the bible club store will go well this coming Saturday.
2. Formal leadership training has started.  Pray that God will use it to raise His leaders to do the work of ministry in a good way and that those starting the training continue to the end.
3. Pray for the Bethel leaders as they try to help the poor children to go to school, sometimes it is a challenge to them as they also have children who go to school. Pray that God will intervene in their personal situation.
4. Pray that God’s Spirit will lead us as we respond to Bethel’s needs.
5. Pray for Emmanuel and ElShaddai Churches. It has come to the time we agreed to bring back the leader we sent to them. But the new leaders taking over seem not ready to do the work.
6. Continue praying for the new converts in all our new churches. They still face persecution from their families.
7. Pray for Deborah and Andrew's wedding, scheduled to take place on the 16th of March - but they don't have enough funding for it. Pray that God will provide for them as they are His faithful servants.

DEBORAH’S PRAYER REQUESTS (through Cathy McInnes)

1. We are planning to start our wedding meetings but how to begin is our greatest problem, pray that God will guide us in every planning process
2. My house isn't enough for us to live in. This pushes us to get a bigger house which is costly, and yet Andrew hasn't got a job.  So pray that God may intervene for provision in getting a good house which can accommodate all of us
3. This year Trisa (Deborah’s daughter) is changing school: this is quite expensive and challenging to a child, so pray that she will quickly fit in the school and for God's protection upon her.
4. We resume Bible Club classes on Feb 9th:  I have lots on my mind planning for the wedding and the time coming ahead, so pray for God's wisdom to be upon me on how to balance all these commitments.
5.  

Excerpts from New Peninsula Uganda Partnership Newsletter -- September 2012

THE UGANDAN PASTORS ARE COMING!

Pastor Aaron & family

Pastor Andrew & family

Grace, Judy & Pastor Vinnie

 


We welcome these three men of God to New Peninsula Church from October 8th till October 23rd.  They will be sharing in Ministry at Rosebud, Mt Martha and Mornington Park (Jigsaw).

Uganda Partnership Group invite you to be a part of this time in as many ways as you can so that you can be blessed and also be a blessing to others.

Vinnie has been in England for the past few weeks and so we decided not to ask him for any more news – we look forward to hearing from him in person!

Do you know the names of the Bethel’s Church plants? Who are their Pastors?

Vinnie has answered these questions for us.

Names of Churches and their Leaders:

1. Bethel Baptist Church -  Led by Munyosi Vincent and others.
2. Elshaddai Baptist Church - Led by Pastor Gordon Gidudu and assisted by David Wazemba who will take over when Gordon comes back to Bethel.
3. Emmanuel Baptist Church - Led by Pastor Aaron Masaba and assisted by Mr. Luke Mukholi. Luke is the Muslim convert who was attacked in the night by Muslims and relatives sometime back while Ian and Tash were still in Uganda. He has shown signs of great leadership.
4. Victory Baptist Church (Busamaga church which the NPC team helped to start while on the exposure trip to Uganda). Mr. Andrew goes there regularly to help it grow assisted by Pastor Robert Nangai. Pastor Nangai is not really a Bethel product. He has been a Baptist minister for some time. He likes the approach Bethel uses and the area we have targeted. He has been a secondary teacher but he is giving up that so he can lead the church.
5. Bethany Baptist Church. A New church which Bethel started after Victory. It is led by Pr. Brian Byamukama. Brian is one of the new Muslim converts who got saved the same time as Roseland. He was training to be a high Muslim leader before he became a Christian. That is the time they put me a jail. He is the emerging leader who walks a long distance several times a week to lead that church up in the mountains. Pray that he gets transport (a motorcycle) and income as he is really a poor boy whose family has thrown him out and he has not yet gone back.
6.  Wanale Baptist Church. This is a church Aaron, Luke and Emmanuel Church have started. It is on top of the Mountain, and it is growing. Aaron and Luke still lead it in turns. It is a long way away, and pray that Luke will get his own transport to continue going there.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY (Uganda Visit)

Oct 13th -  Connection Day. Workshops and Lunch

Oct 14th -  Rosebud Services

Oct 20th - Gracious Café – relaxing evening of song, stories and food.

Oct 21st – Mt Martha Services


PRAYER AND PRAISE

• Thank the Lord for Vinnie’s time in England. Pray that he will now have time to be refreshed and prepare himself for his visit with us.
• Pray for Pastor Brian at Bethany Church. Ask for the provision of work and transport. Pray for his relationship with his family who have rejected him.
• Continue to pray for the Community / Medical Centre. Pray for the completion of the building and that all requirements for its use as a Medical Centre will be met so that this ministry can commence.
• Pray for each of the Pastors as named above.
• Give thanks for all the work that has been done in regards to the Visit. Pray that all details will be able to be finalised this week and the program completed.
• Remember Jamie and Julie as they head for home soon. Ask for safety in travel and anticipation for what God has in store for them in the coming days.
• Pray that the people of New Peninsula will embrace the coming Visit. Pray that many will attend the Services, Connection Day and Gracious Café. Ask God to pour out His Spirit on these meeting so that many people will be blessed and encouraged.
• Pray for Vinnie, Andrew and Aaron that God will prepare, enable and undertake for them in the days leading up to the Visit and in the time they are with us.
• We haven’t yet heard about their Visa’s, so keep praying.

This prayer newsletter has been compiled by the Uganda Partnership Group as a way to keep the wider “Uganda Support Community” within New Peninsula Church engaged and updated on our mission partnership with Bethel Church in Mooni community, near Mbale, Uganda. Quotations from correspondence have been edited. Please feel free to distribute this prayer newsletter to others. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, or wish to be placed on the distribution list, please contact Dorrie TERRINGTON.

Excerpts from New Peninsula Uganda Partnership Prayer Newsletter - August 2012

News, praise and prayer points:

1. This Month is a tough Month for us as a church and family. World wide it is a month for Muslims’ Ramadan fasting. They have used this to almost physically want to attack us. Because we live right next to the Mosque, our house has been stoned many times in the night as some of them come to pray in the night and very early in the Morning. Youth openly abuse any one of us who passes around the Mosque when they are in a group. So we need your prayers.
2. It is also a Month for the official opening of the circumcision ceremony which my tribe does. Again, we don't live very far from where the capital shrine is. Because we are Christians, we have been stopped on the way when we meet the crowds of people. Sometimes we find over 200 or even 400 people together chanting and lifting sticks, rocks, pangas and other dangerous tools up in the air wanting to take blood. Christians are the main enemies of the Worship. Pray that we stay safe. Yesterday was their official opening.
3. Pray that our travel documents to Australia shall go through successfully. (This is of paramount importance)
4. Pray for Emmanuel Church. Just in one week they have lost 2 prominent members. We are burying one tomorrow. As a young church it is tough for them to lose 2 very active people who have left dependents behind.
5. Pray that God shall hold me (Vinnie) and all the church leaders strong to continue the battle. We are always on the winning side as people are getting saved every week. But there are times when we almost want to give up when the battles remain endless. Some people think that if the young leaders get into trouble, Grace and I are responsible as it is we who have led them to Jesus. Keep praying for us as individuals.
6. In November I will sit for an exam. I will explain this latter when we come to Australia. But pray that I will get all the Money needed to carry on what I think is the right things for my ministry work.

Praise and Thanksgiving:                                                     

1. We thank God for his hand. There is a clan that lives in between Emmanuel and El Shaddai church. It stretches to where we live. That clan is the leading clan for the circumcision ceremony. There is a shrine they go to. This week we have been going to pray around the shrine, asking God that there shall be no blood poured as during this time many children are sacrificed at the Shrines. Yesterday as it was the opening day, they had a total confusion. The parents of the children who were chosen to be sacrificed did not allow it and there were big fights in the clan. Today as I was walking up hill to pray with the family who lost a person, I met two of the clan and shrine leaders. They stopped and told me about the confusion they had yesterday and they told me that they are going in the meeting to tell the rest that they are no longer interested in the clan and shrine. They openly told me that they now see that Christianity is the way to go. Even when they did not confess Jesus I think they are on the way. To me it was a praise point to hear such great men saying they are denouncing the worship.
2. Praise God that more and more people are coming to Christianity. Even when Christianity has been in Uganda for many years, it is still new in our community and people are finding out that it is a faith of liberty and freedom as opposed to traditional and Islam worship that are based on threats and fear and pretence. I think we are still growing.
3. We also thank God that even when there have been threats and attempts to attack the church, none of us has been badly attacked and no one has died from that. God is still at work and reaching his people each day.
4. One of the main witch Doctors who had remained in the community and lived near Bethel church, left some weeks back He has been a threat to new Christian converts. But the time came when he had to leave the community as he is no longer in business. Praise God for this. 

 

This prayer newsletter has been compiled by the Uganda Partnership Group as a way to keep the wider “Uganda Support Community” within New Peninsula Church engaged and updated on our mission partnership with Bethel Church in Mooni community, near Mbale, Uganda. Quotations from correspondence have been edited. Please contact Dorrie Terrington for further details or to be placed on the mailing list to receive this newsletter.

Excerpts from New Peninsula Uganda Partnership Prayer Newsletter - June 2012

Excerpts from New Peninsula Uganda Partnership Prayer Newsletter - June 2012

GOD’S ANSWERS TO THE PRAYERS OF HIS PEOPLE
                       
In our last prayer request we asked that you pray for the Baptism. On Sunday 3rd June 2012 we were able to Baptize 67 people. We had a guest from Australia, a former pastor of the Church by the Bay called Greg. He did the Baptism with me. It was a very successful day. We did not know the numbers were going to be so big. The members came from all our new branch churches and from Bethel. We had about 35 women and 32 men. This is a sign that the church is growing.  
On the same Sunday we dedicated over 80 Children. As numbers of Believers keep increasing, the number of children also grows.  
We have had several leadership trainings. We can see that our leaders are growing very well. As churches increase, leadership trainings have become so vital.  

BETHEL PRAISE   
1. Give thanks to God for His wonderful blessings to all who took part in the children’s dedication and baptisms.
2. Thank the Lord for the enthusiasm of new leaders.
3. We are grateful for good health to be able to do the work God has called us to do.                                                              

BETHEL PRAYER                                                                  
1. Continue to pray that each of our Churches will know God’s leading and blessing. Pray that the people’s hearts will remain open to the Spirit’s leading.
2. Pray for Pastor Vinnie and Grace. Pray that they will know God’s strength, encouragement, peace and joy as they shepherd the flock God has given to them.
3. Please prayer that Vinnie, Andrew and Aaron will soon receive their Visa’s for their trip to Australia. Pray that there will be no holdups but that the applications will be processed quickly.
4. Continue to pray for Mick, Andrew and Derek as they organise the program for when the visit takes place.
5. Pray for the Bethel Community Programs – Goats to widows, Micro Finance, Hire of equipment for big events, Children’s Club Medical work.


This prayer newsletter has been compiled by the Uganda Partnership Group as a way to keep the wider “Uganda Support Community” within New Peninsula Church engaged and updated on our mission partnership with Bethel Church in Mooni community, near Mbale, Uganda. Quotations from correspondence have been edited.

For further details contact Mick & Dorrie TERRINGTON or Jamie EDGERTON.